By Terrance Turner
A fight broke out at tonight’s Memphis Grizzlies game — again. Cleveland Cavaliers shooting guard Donovan Mitchell and Memphis Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks both got ejected tonight after their shoving match turned into a brawl.
The trouble started midway through the third quarter. Brooks went up for a layup, but he got blocked by power forward Evan Mobley. After Mobley’s block, Brooks fell to the ground. And he brought Mitchell down with him. All hell broke loose:
If you look closely at the video, you’ll see what started the fight. After Brooks fell to the ground, he reached up and hit Mitchell in the groin. Mitchell fell to the ground in pain, clutching the ball, and then threw it at Brooks. Then Mitchell (nicknamed “Spida”) jumped up and shoved Brooks as he was getting up. The two started pushing and shoving; Mitchell threw Brooks to the ground during the fight. And then Brooks tackled a coach who was trying to break it up!
Aftermath & Consequences
Both players and coaches got involved in the fight. Eventually they separated the players. According to Yahoo Sports, both players were ejected from the game. Brooks received a flagrant-2 foul. (That foul goes to contact that is “unnecessary and excessive,” per NBA rules.)
The Cavaliers won the game, 128-113. (They improve to 32-22.) After the game, Mitchell spoke with reporters. One of them asked, “Do you feel that Dillon threw a cheap shot at you?”
“Yeah, for sure,” Mitchell answered. “That’s just who he is. You know, we’ve seen it a bunch in this league, with him. He and I have had our personal battles over the years. Quite frankly, I’ve been busting his ass for years, in playoffs and the regular season. And the one game he does alright with me, he goes and do something like this. There’s no place [for] that in this game.”
This is the second time in two weeks that Brooks has been involved in an on-court altercation. On Jan. 20, during the Grizzlies-Lakers game, Brooks sparked a dustup between the Grizzlies and former NFL great Shannon Sharpe. While watching from the stands, Sharpe criticized the play of Memphis forward Dillion Brooks. (He reportedly said Brooks was too small to guard LeBron James.) Brooks took umbrage and barked back. Sharpe kept talking:
Grizzlies star Ja Morant barked at Sharpe to go sit down. Sharpe responded, and Morant’s father Tee Morant spoke up on behalf of his son. Then he and Sharpe got into it:
Sharpe and Morant had to be separated. (They later made up.)
Save as PDF